Fifty years ago, “The Summer of Love” happened. It was a time when young, idealistic people clashed with a corrupt establishment and pushed for a world where peace, togetherness, love and harmony ruled.
Of course, that didn’t happen. As the Hippies grew older, some burned out while most turned their back on their youthful ideals and became just as corrupt, hateful and xeonophobic as the establishment against which they rebelled. In fact, a good argument can be made that the former Hippies became worse than the targets of their scorn.
It’s sort of complicated, as you can see in the PBS Experience documentary above. Part of me thinks that we really need a new Summer of Love, but considering the mess we’re in fifty years after the first one, maybe we’re better off leaving that in the past. It would be nice if some cultural touchstone could happen that would make popular music a whole lot better than it is now.
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